The Lights of Altamira
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: "How can he still feel this way, knowing it will end so soon for him?" Raine, worried about her brother's attachment to Presea, knows no half-elf can find happiness with a human… but a certain someone, who lives just as much in the past as she does in the future, reminds her not to ruin today with thoughts of tomorrow. I do not own Tales of Symphonia or the cover!


**((This references a brief scene in another of my stories, **_**Dawn of the New Year**_**, which takes place during "Murilega", or Christmas/New Year's. ****Basically, Regal and Raine find themselves under the mistletoe.**

**Anyway, this takes place about three months after that, in late spring, making it about eight months after **_**Dawn of the New World**_** by my reckoning. I have a whole timeline/calendar worked out…))**

* * *

"C'mon, Raine! Please?"

"_No_, Genis," said Raine firmly, stopping in her tracks and turning to glance down sternly at her younger brother. Raine, accustomed to his precociousness, had to remind herself that he was still only fifteen years old, and there were apparently some things he still didn't understand—such as why it was so difficult to stop by Regal Bryant's mansion in Altamira without an invitation. Friends they may be, but they were far from equals—there was still much the world (Tethe'alla in particular) needed to learn about half-elves.

"It's impolite to drop by someone's house when we're not expected. Besides, we don't even know if Presea will be there," explained Raine as patiently as possible, when Genis simply looked at her with wide-eyed, sullen disbelief. "It's a 'Freetday afternoon, you know," added Raine, less patiently. "Almost evening. Doesn't she return to her house in Ozette on the weekends?"

Genis opened his mouth to retort, but—apparently finding no adequate response—cut himself off with a crestfallen glance towards the Bryant mansion in the distance. "I guess," he muttered, but quickly glanced up at Raine with an almost wicked expression in his eyes. "Of course, you'll get to see Regal even if Presea isn't there," he added, with an insolent shrug. "So really, you win either way."

Raine (automatically turning a shade darker at the mention of Regal Bryant) began saying something like _if you're going to be like that, then you're _never_ going there_, but was quickly interrupted by a raindrop falling on her nose. She glanced up in surprise to see her eponym beginning to fall from the overcast sky, and heaved a sigh somewhere between exasperation and contentment.

Late spring rain was Raine's favorite kind of weather: she was always in a vastly more generous mindset when the prospect of a long, solitary walk in the rain was in her near future. What was more, her brother knew it; she could tell Genis was already anticipating her change in mood. He was doing an atrocious job at keeping his triumphant grin under control.

Raine, caught between her brother's goofy smile and the beauty of the weather, grudgingly began the process of reconsideration.

Who said she had to stay at the mansion too? The last thing Raine wanted to do was interfere with Regal's work, and just because Genis wanted to see Presea didn't mean she had to stay herself. Besides, Genis wouldn't _want_ her to hang around while he was courting Presea. She'd sworn to keep out of it, but every time she saw him smile at her exuberantly, she wanted to say—

No, she wouldn't think about that. She'd find something to do in town to distract her; it was beginning to be a beautiful afternoon, after all. Raine pretended to deliberate a little longer just to prolong Genis's obvious anticipation, watching the rain falling gently from the low clouds, before finally turning her gaze back to her brother and saying matter-of-factly, "Fine."

"Yes!" exclaimed Genis, punching the air. "How long—?"

"I'll come get you around sunset," decided Raine, inadvertently interrupting her brother. "That gives you a few hours with Presea. Make sure you make yourself useful, though!" she warned as Genis started practically skipping away. "You'll be intruding on her time at work, so help her out till she's released."

"Okay!" beamed Genis, sounding like he would gladly do _anything_ if it meant seeing Presea, and—without further ado—dashed away through the falling rain towards the Bryant mansion. Raine smiled a little sadly, thinking of how unspeakably nice it would be simply to be _human_, and turned her contemplative feet towards the beach.

* * *

"Welcome home, Regal!"

He started, just having shut his front door, and hurriedly removed his raincoat. That was the gradually changing voice of Genis Sage. _What is he doing here? _While he hardly had anything against the young half-elf, some warning might have been nice if he was going to invade his home.

Of course, Regal had no way of knowing whether Presea had invited him. _It's her birthday, after all. _Though, ordinarily she would tell him of such plans. More likely, Genis had been in the area and had seen fit to drop by and see Presea. Anyone who couldn't see his partiality to her must have been blind.

"Thank you," called Regal in return, at a loss for what else to say. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" he added, walking towards the dining room. That seemed to be where his voice was coming from, anyway; as he stood in the doorway, he found that he was quite right, and moreover, that Genis had apparently just finished preparing a multiple-course dinner and had set two places at the table.

"Here!" he exclaimed, gesturing towards the seat at the head of the table, and Regal smiled. "For you and Presea," he added, pulling out his chair for him with unrestrained enthusiasm. "I hope you like it," he continued, sounding somewhat nervous, and Regal merely chuckled: he was well aware that for Genis, he represented the admittedly intimidating father of the girl he loved, but his concern was completely groundless. Regal respected Genis a great deal, after all, and neither did he have any problem with his attachment to Presea.

"How kind of you," remarked Regal, still standing as he glanced around the table appreciatively: he had evidently been working for some hours to craft this many mouthwatering dishes. Truly, the child was a prodigy in the kitchen. _More than can be said for his sister, _he thought with an inward sigh, but quickly reprimanded himself. She was talented in almost all other areas, after all. "I hope you'll eat with us?" he added, taking his seat and looking mildly at Genis, who colored slightly.

"E-eat with you?" he stammered in surprise.

"Well, yes," explained Regal, as Genis smiled a little uncertainly. "You cooked this, after all. You deserve a taste of the meal you prepared so artfully. Where is Presea, by the way?" he added, turning around to call for her; however, before he could say her name again, she walked through the doorway with a small smile on her face.

Regal's breath caught for a fraction of a second: he knew exactly why Genis was so flustered around her; he empathized with the feeling plainly fluttering in his gut whenever he looked at her. She looked so much like Alicia that it hurt. But Regal had always forced himself to think of her as the daughter he should have had with her, and it had helped him come to terms with their likeness. That didn't stop his initial reaction to her presence, however, and he wondered if it ever would. Alicia was his first and, so far, his only: it wasn't anything he could help.

"H-hi, Presea," stammered Genis, beaming and blushing at the same time.

"Hello, Genis," replied Presea, looking nonplussed but unusually pleased all the same. "You've been here for hours," she added hesitantly, as though about to ask why exactly he was saying _hello_, but Regal simply cleared his throat and gestured towards the food-laden table. He'd leave them alone after dinner, but for now, he would _not_ allow all Genis's hard work to go to waste in favor of some awkward attempts at conversation.

"Shall we eat?"

* * *

Raine knocked at the door to the Bryant mansion, soaked practically through to the skin and happier than she'd been for a long time. Rain always helped her forget her problems, of which there were always too many to count. However, the illusion of peace disappeared altogether too quickly: most of them came crashing back down again unpleasantly as Regal opened the door.

"Hello," said Raine, before he could invite her inside; she could see him sway a little, itching to step aside like the gentleman he was and let her in, out of the weather she so adored. "I'm here to fetch Genis."

She didn't want to see Regal, and that was the simple truth of it. The image of mistletoe in a doorway, followed by the cover of a book on ruins, filled her like a flash of lightning as she met his curious eyes unwillingly, and she quickly dropped her gaze.

Ever since that evening last Murilega, when their lips had brushed so briefly under the influence of that poisonous plant, Raine's heart had beaten just a little bit faster whenever she thought of him, which was constantly. Knowing that he would never be able to move on from a girl who had died almost twenty years ago made those few extra beats excruciating.

Not to mention the difference in the way time flowed for them—but that was another story.

"Please, come inside and stay awhile," said Regal graciously, and stepped aside with something of a bow. Raine treaded helplessly forward, reluctantly allowing Regal to remove her jacket for her—though she shivered a little as his fingers grazed the nape of her neck.

"Are you cold?" he asked, concerned, and Raine felt the heat rush to her cheeks, hoping against hope that her blush would go unnoticed. If Regal saw it, he didn't say anything, to her immeasurable relief.

"I, ah," she responded, very unprofessionally, and Regal chuckled understandingly, escorting her—still carrying her wet jacket—through his magnificent house. More than once, Raine longed to stop and examine some statue or painting a little more closely, just to see which era it was from—but they moved briskly onward, as she failed to give voice to any of these impulses.

His mansion was about as large a house as Zelos Wilder's; it took them almost a minute (Raine counted to keep herself occupied) to arrive at the room Regal apparently had in mind for her to stay. It was adjacent to another, in which Presea was playing the piano, judging from Genis's delighted comments and Presea's half-pleased denial of his compliments, but Raine's focus was not on the piano: this room, while not the largest in the house, was simultaneously spacious and cozy. Flames burned steadily in the fireplace, casting comfortable ruddy light over a leather armchair and couch situated close by. A large windowed double door led out to a modest balcony; raindrops were visible from the firelight in the room, splashing into the puddles.

Raine smiled. She could get used to this.

"Here. Please, sit by the fire."

Regal's voice was warm and gentle as the fire and rain as he spoke, gesturing politely to the armchair and spreading her jacket on the back of a chair at a writing desk in the corner, and Raine sat obediently, glancing around at the rest of the room. In the faint light of the fire, she could see no details of the paintings on the walls, though a ray of light flooded in from the adjacent room, along with Genis and Presea's laughter at some situation Raine doubtless wouldn't understand.

"I'll fetch you some tea," Regal was saying, but his rich and pleasant voice seemed distant to her pointed ears; Raine only nodded once, distractedly, and stared into the fire as he departed, trying to untangle the web she had woven around her own heart.

* * *

"Better?"

"Better," agreed Raine after a short and silent pause (Presea had stopped playing the piano and was now talking softly with Genis), stirring sugar into her tea and gazing into the fireplace through narrowed eyes. Regal left his black, and took a cautious sip before carefully observing the half-elven woman sitting across from him. In the flickering firelight, shining gold on her silken silver shirt, she looked well enough, if a little exhausted—but concern rested heavily in her countenance. _If she would only open up a little, I may be able to help._

"What are you and Genis doing in Altamira?" asked Regal eventually, for lack of anything better to say, when Raine made no attempt at conversation; she started violently as he spoke. Whatever she was thinking about could evidently not be dispelled by her brother's mirth in the next room: if anything, judging from the way her eyes flashed with something like annoyance with every laugh, that was part of her preoccupation.

"I'm sorry," she began, clearly flustered, and took a sip of tea before meeting Regal's eyes briefly. "We've been doing some work in Tethe'alla to help the half-elves' situations," she continued eventually, as though she had to think hard to find an adequate response. "And then Genis wanted to see Presea for her birthday," she finished, "so I thought… since it was raining…" She trailed off nonsensically, and Regal waited patiently for an explanation, but received none.

"You seem quite preoccupied," observed Regal apprehensively, taking another sip of his tea, and Raine set her teacup down (suspended in midair) without drinking from it, looking up at him sharply and then down at her lap uncomfortably.

"I suppose it's obvious," she muttered, clearly embarrassed; the tip of her single visible ear, poking out from under her silver hair, was red—though perhaps that was just the firelight. "Forgive me. I—"

"If you don't want to talk about it, then—" began Regal at the same time, but both stopped abruptly as they realized they were interrupting one another. There was a pause before their eyes met, and Raine's eyes sparkled as she finally allowed herself to smile, though the expression shattered again before more than a few seconds had passed.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, pensive once more. "It's true, there's been… quite a lot on my mind since we last met." _She doesn't want to mention the mistletoe, _realized Regal, and some inkling of what might be occupying her mind trickled into his own, though he refused to speculate until he knew more.

He wasn't about to pretend his heartbeat didn't race a little faster at the half-formed thought of an attachment between the two of them, but he didn't understand _why_. She didn't remind him of Alicia, after all: Raine was neither soft-spoken nor subservient, but capricious; he supposed they _were _both beautiful, though in entirely different ways.

Alicia's eyes were mild and sweet, like light blue wildflowers; Raine's darker gaze held wisdom and midnight mystery. Alicia's pink hair was short and girlish; Raine's was untidily silver. Alicia was petite and docile; Raine was taller, though still almost a foot shorter than Regal, and exuded a quiet power. So why, if Alicia was utter perfection in his eyes, would such opposite features attract his attention?

"Now _you're_ the preoccupied one," sighed Raine, not without humor in her voice, and took a sip of her sweet tea, meeting his eyes once more. The corners of Regal's mouth automatically tugged upwards, eager to prompt one more smile, and he was handsomely rewarded.

"Yes, it would seem so," chuckled Regal, and set down his teacup and saucer. There was a long silence, during which he wondered whether it would be too forward to ask what the matter was a second time. Eventually, Regal opened his mouth, finally daring to ask, but Raine spoke before he could.

"Genis and Presea," she mumbled, staring at her lap. "It… it can't work."

Regal blinked, surprised. Perhaps the cause of her inner turmoil was different than he imagined; he suppressed with difficulty a twinge of disappointment. "I'm sorry?" he asked, before he could stop himself. Anyone who saw Genis and Presea together could hardly doubt the sincerity of their intentions towards one another, after all.

"Now that time flows for her again, Genis will just leave her behind," continued Raine, distantly, as though he had not spoken; her fingers traced her teacup restlessly in her lap. "He knows—_I _know—it will only end in heartbreak."

The sound of Presea's tinkling laugh made its way into the room as if on cue, and Regal smiled contentedly, but the sound seemed to set Raine even more on edge. Partially to defend Presea's relationship to Genis, and partially to attempt to alleviate Raine's fears, Regal sighed, "She's happiest when Genis is with her," but fell silent rather than continue as Raine glanced up at him.

"How can he still feel this way, knowing it will end so soon for him?" she murmured, as if to herself. "Even if she spends the rest of her life with him, that only gives them eighty years or so together, and he'll live for centuries afterwards." She glanced at Regal momentarily before staring at the fire, leaning against the arm of her chair and resting her head on her hands. Sorrow filled her eyes like tears, and Regal longed to wipe it away somehow, but dared not break the spell that seemed to have settled over her. It felt almost as though he was observing a private conversation, one that he had no right to overhear.

There was a long and solemn silence before she breathed, so faintly that Regal could barely hear over the crackling flames, "We half-elves truly are wretched creatures." Alarm jolted through him as he set down his teacup abruptly, unconsciously clinking it against the saucer too loudly and causing Raine to jump as he rose from his seat.

"You say you and Genis cannot afford to live too much in the present," he asserted (Raine glanced up at him, startled), "yet you think only of the future, which makes the present meaningless. Acknowledge the future you know you cannot change, and enjoy the here and now, which you can." He realized that his fists were clenched with the passion of his argument, and made an effort to relax for her sake; her eyes were wide and contained an expression similar to fear.

However, he had worried for nothing: Raine rose slowly, elegantly, from her position on the armchair and met his eyes with a challenge burning in her gaze, no trace of the wariness he had found earlier remaining. "And living in the past doesn't do anyone any good, either," she growled, and Regal blinked in shock. "Acknowledge the past which you've already had, and enjoy the present which you have now."

Regal's eyes widened. _Alicia._ Raine seemed to understand the magnitude of her words as the single name crossed his mind. "I—" she began, sinking red-faced back onto the armchair. "I—I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I shouldn't have said—"

"You're right," he sighed, accidentally cutting her off, and took a tentative step forward. "Both of us live too much in a time not our own. We could learn a thing or two from _them_," he added, indicating the ray of light and laughter from the next room (Raine smiled faintly).

As if his words had summoned the music, Presea began playing the piano again—this time a somewhat clumsy waltz. Regal smiled at the sound: that had been the piece she had been practicing of late. _She never lets me hear her practice if she can help it, _he thought with a chuckle. _Genis must be very special to her if she's playing it for him before she's mastered it…_

"Learn from Genis and Presea?" asked Raine, and there was a suppressed sort of excitement in her voice; Regal couldn't help but smile gently down at her. "By gallivanting off to have ourselves a carefree little romance? That doesn't seem like us," she added, rising, but Raine could not meet his half-stunned gaze as she delicately set down her teacup. "You live with Alicia's ghost, and I with no one at all," she continued, with something of a curious challenge to her voice.

Regal knew exactly what that dare was, and a something painful—something between joy and guilt—thrilled through him at the thought of the mistletoe dangling tantalizingly, now invisibly, above them.

He closed his eyes in thought for a moment, instinctively placing his hands where they had once been bound for sixteen years. Somehow, mentally binding his body helped his thoughts roam free. The spirit of Alicia hovered before him, reaching as high as she could to brush his cheek—as she did so often in their stolen moments, years and years ago. Before he could so much as longingly whisper her name, however, her presence faded reassuringly into the sound of her sister's imperfect waltz and Genis's appreciative laughter… and the shine of the firelight in Raine's eyes.

Understanding Alicia's verdict, and taking it as his own with a sense of calm and unexpected acceptance, he extended his hand haltingly in the unspoken offer of a dance.

Raine took it cautiously, with a small but brilliant smile. "A dance," she murmured curiously, "or something more?" She spoke warily as Regal drew her closer and slid his hand cautiously down her back; her words were heavy with implications, and he forcibly halted his hand before it reached her waist, lest she misinterpret his intentions.

Regal was hardly inclined to ask about her past as they danced, slowly and evenly, but it was clear from her tone of voice that something like this had happened before with much more than a mere dance exchanged. The story of Raine's reluctance to approach the Unicorn _had_ reached his ears, after all. "A dance," he responded lightly, twirling her once and smiling at her giddy expression. "A dance… and a promise."

"A promise?" asked Raine, clearly surprised. "I presume you mean to say you won't live in the past so much anymore," she added, and Regal nodded smilingly as they revolved. "Well then, allow me to make you a promise in return," she continued resolutely. "I won't think too much about the future… for as long as you're a part of it."

Regal chuckled, flattered, and led another spin. "One part or another," he murmured, still unsure of his decision, though falling more and more each moment; his hands tingled where they touched hers. "A dance and a promise. That's all."

Presea's waltz halted abruptly mid-step at his words, followed by a quiet and unintelligible comment from Genis; as they stopped moving as if in a daze, Regal discovered that his hand had found its way automatically to Raine's waist during the dance, despite his initial reluctance.

With this discovery, he became suddenly and painfully aware of their proximity. Even under the mistletoe, they had kept their distance for all but the crucial moment, when he had leaned in obligingly: now, he held her body close enough to his that he could practically feel their hearts throbbing together in a frantic beat, unmatched by any song Presea could play.

Clearing his throat, he released her waist and hand and stepped away from her respectfully, but Raine continued to study his face mildly from that distance: apparently, their dance had given her the courage to look him full in the face. It seemed almost as though she was turning over each of his numerous flaws in the open, and Regal was the one who could not meet her eyes this time; he settled on staring into the flames, wondering where this new path would lead, and how quickly.

"Let's go for a walk," suggested Raine softly, after a long pause, and glanced wistfully out the window into the rainy darkness; the city, every light lit, glittered in the distance. Regal smiled a little to think of the way her eyes too lit up at the prospects of walking with her name falling all around, and bowed his head, offering his arm to the woman at his side.

_Here I am in the here and now, and this is my choice._

* * *

Raine smiled peacefully as they strolled through the nigh-deserted city. Some said the city's ordinarily jubilant nightlife was exceeded by none, but one wouldn't have known it from the way it looked now: a soft and soothing mist drifted down from the clouds, and only a few people were out on the streets, mostly hurrying from one building to another in an effort to avoid the rain.

Regal and Raine, however, walked calmly and deliberately through the streets, ignoring the cool drizzle falling from the clouds—feeling warm and dry in one another's company. Keeping a gentle hand on the crook of his elbow as they walked, she chanced a glance up at him, all bravery gone; now, he seemed quite as brilliant as the lights of the city surrounding them, and it was difficult to look at the man whom she adored.

He walked with as much authority as usual, yet his expression—ordinarily solemn—was one of serene joy; Regal evidently sensed her eyes on him and turned his towards hers, pausing a moment in their stroll to smile at her. He really had a wonderful smile, reflected Raine as she returned it happily; it was a pity he seemed to find so little reason to do so whenever she saw him.

"You're blushing," observed Regal, sounding something between curious, apologetic, and amused, and turned towards her uncertainly. After glancing up at him briefly, surprised at his remark, Raine turned her gaze aside self-consciously. Of _course_ she was. Why did she have to act like a lovestruck schoolgirl when she was a fully capable adult of twenty-six? _They'd never let me alone if they saw me now…_

She immediately forgave Regal the embarrassment he had inadvertently caused her, however, when his hand caressed her cheek gently: she froze, a chill running through her that had nothing to do with the rain, and dared to look up once more. He gazed down at her with such politely tentative affection that she could hardly speak, though managed a single, feeble reminder.

"Only a dance and a promise. You said…"

Regal smiled respectfully and dropped his hand back to his side; Raine longed to seize it again and bring it back. "A dance and a promise," he agreed, meeting her eyes. "And yet, we never sealed our understanding." There was a deferential suggestion in his words, one that asked permission, begged her pardon, and apologized all in a few inflections.

Raine smiled spasmodically, remembering the roughness of friction against walls and floors—and the rippling gratification that followed—and bowed her head ever so slightly in recognition of a drastic shift in courtship from her past two lovers. She could expect no impulsive passion from Regal, nor would she want to; this was her decision, and he would respect whatever choice she made.

The lights of Altamira glistened in the puddles still forming on the slick black street as Raine glanced up once more with renewed determination to find him waiting patiently, though worry flickered faintly in his eyes. "A dance, a promise… and a kiss," she murmured breathlessly. "It's a deal."

Regal's countenance softened into something very like affection, and he bent down without further ado, Raine standing childishly on her tiptoes to help close the distance. As their lips met, Raine swayed a little, but smiled into their kiss: his arm was curled gently around her waist to keep her securely in place.

* * *

**((Yay, first Regal/Raine fic! Hope I did these two wonderful characters justice… it's difficult to write them, since there are so many things getting in the way of their romance—particularly Alicia and aging.**

**Happy marginally early Valentine's Day!**

**On a side note, can someone tell me why there is literally no fanart of these two on the internet? Or at least, none that I can find.))**


End file.
